Flora hesitated for one second.
“Going to sneak off and make something… Is that really all right?”
She said this aloud, but her body was already rising from the bed.
Lena looked at her and could not help but smile.
“Actually, Your Highness, the tone of your voice doesn’t sound like you’re truly refusing anymore.”
Flora gave a light cough.
“Then… just this once.”
“Then just this once, of course,” Lena agreed, nodding along. “It wouldn’t be good to get caught.”
The two of them left the room, one after the other.
The hallway was quiet, and the afternoon light fell diagonally from the high windows, casting alternating patches of light and shadow across the carpet.
Flora had only taken a few steps before she instinctively straightened her back.
Her pace slowed, her strides became even, and her skirt swayed gently with her movements. Her feet made almost no sound as they touched the floor.
Clearly, this was the elegant gait she had been practicing specifically over the past few days. She was not doing it consciously, but her body had already memorized the movements.
Walking beside her, Lena had originally been keeping an eye out for anyone nearby, but as they walked, she suddenly glanced sideways at Flora.
Then she looked again.
And then once more.
Finally, she could not resist letting out a soft chuckle.
Flora was startled by the laugh and instinctively turned her head.
“What is it?”
Lena pointed at her footsteps.
“Do you know how you’re walking right now?”
Flora instinctively glanced down at her own feet, then looked back up.
“Normal walking?”
“No,” Lena shook her head. “It’s that kind of walking that is full of elegance and displays perfect etiquette.”
Flora: “…”
She paused for one second.
“Is it… that obvious?”
“Very obvious,” Lena nodded. “I almost instinctively stepped aside to make way for you just now.”
Flora’s face flushed red instantly.
“I didn’t notice.”
“I know.” Lena’s smile widened. “It’s because you didn’t notice that it looks so natural.”
Flora fell silent for two seconds before whispering, “…Oh no.”
“What’s ‘oh no’?”
“The way I am now,” she said in a low voice, “isn’t it very strange?”
Lena thought about it.
“If we’re sneaking off to the Kitchen, then it is indeed a bit too formal.”
Flora instinctively wanted to say, “Then I’ll adjust,” but the moment she took a step, she used the exact same gait.
Even she was stunned.
Lena looked at her and finally could not stop herself from laughing out loud.
“It’s fine.” She waved her hand. “The hallway is empty anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Besides, walking like this all the time gives you a lot of class.”
“Class?”
“Yeah,” Lena said. “You know, that noble aura.”
Flora felt a bit helpless hearing that.
“When you put it that way, it feels even weirder.”
She continued walking forward, no longer making a conscious effort to change.
Consequently, it became a rather subtle scene: a demon princess with a perfectly poised gait and a clearly more relaxed maid walking side by side toward the Kitchen.
They arrived outside the Kitchen door.
Flora stood at the entrance and instinctively scanned the area. Once she confirmed no one was there, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Is there… really no one?” she asked in a lowered voice.
“Don’t worry.” Lena closed the door gently. “Everyone is resting at this hour. No one is going to come running to the Kitchen.”
She walked to the counter and efficiently laid out the prepared ingredients all at once.
There was a large, transparent glass pitcher filled with fresh water, a bottle of pale lemon juice, a small jar of golden syrup, two cups, and several small sealed bags containing chopped fruit zest, dried leaves, and a bit of transparent powder that looked like crystalline grains.
“All right,” Lena clapped her hands. “Let me explain first.”
“Mm.” Flora immediately stood up straight.
“We’re going to make a drink, the kind that can relieve fatigue.” Lena pointed to the ingredients.
“The water is the base, the lemon is for refreshing, the syrup is to replenish strength, and these are the auxiliary ingredients used to stabilize the taste and the effects.”
“Effects?” Flora became wary.
“Don’t be nervous. The effect is just to make the person feel less tired after drinking it,” Lena laughed. “It won’t turn you into anything strange.”
Flora finally nodded.
“We’ll make it together.” Lena pushed the two cups to the center. “One cup each, but the steps are the same.”
“All right.”
“First, pour the water.”
The two of them reached out at the same time.
“Wait, wait!” Lena suddenly pressed down on Flora’s wrist. “You’re filling it too much!”
“Isn’t more better?”
“We still have to add things later!” Lena was so anxious she pulled the pitcher back. “Otherwise, it’ll spill!”
The water nearly overflowed.
Flora stiffened and quickly steadied the cup.
“Like… this?”
Flora poured some of the water out until the remaining water filled about half the cup.
“That’s perfect.” Lena breathed a sigh of relief.
Flora looked down at the water in the cup and nodded. ‘I’ll remember that.’
“Good. Next step, lemon juice.” Lena pushed the bottle over. “Pouring about this much will do.”
Lena gestured the measurement on Flora’s cup.
Flora carefully picked up the bottle of lemon juice, but stopped as she held it over the cup.
“Will it be too sour?”
“It won’t.”
Before the words had even finished leaving Lena’s mouth, Flora had already poured the lemon juice into the cup, but it was a bit less than what Lena had specified.
“What… are you doing?” Lena glared at her.
“I think it’s better to start with a little less,” Flora said quite righteously. “If it doesn’t taste good, we can still fix it.”
“This isn’t a lab experiment!” Lena did not know whether to laugh or cry. “Fine, fine. Then I’ll put in a little less as well.”
Thus, the lemon juice Lena poured was also a bit less, though it was still significantly more than what Flora had poured.
“Syrup.” Lena opened the small jar. “You can use a little less of this.”
“How much?”
“Just a bit less than the lemon juice will do; otherwise, it’ll be too sweet.”
Flora did not hesitate this time. She looked at the amount of lemon juice she had poured and followed suit with the syrup.
Then she stopped.
Lena was immediately on guard. “What do you want to do now?”
“Would adding a little more make it more balanced?”
“Are you afraid of it being sour or sweet?”
“A bit of both.”
Lena sighed. “Fine, add a tiny bit.”
So Flora added a very cautious amount.
“Done.” She set down the spoon. “Now what?”
“The auxiliary ingredients.” Lena had finished pouring her own syrup.
Lena opened several of the bags and pushed them toward the center while explaining.
“This is lime zest; this is mint; and this is the Crystalline Powder to stabilize the flavor. You must use only a little.”
“How much is ‘a little’?”
“Just… a pinch.”
Flora reached out and took a pinch.
She really only took a tiny bit.
“That’s way too little.” Lena could not help but comment.
“Better safe than sorry,” Flora replied seriously.
Lena shook her head and smiled, putting a small pinch into her own cup as well, though it was clearly more than Flora’s.
“All right, stir.”
Each of them took a stirring rod and began at the same time.
Flora’s movements were slow and even, the rod drawing perfect circles in the cup.
Lena’s style was completely different; with a flick of her wrist, the liquid in the cup swirled rapidly.
“Aren’t you afraid of it splashing if you stir that fast?” Flora could not help asking.
“I won’t. Look.”
In the next second, Lena almost flung the water out.
“See! Look at how good my technique is. Not a drop spilled.”
Flora: “…”
“What did you just say?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
The two of them looked at each other for a second and then burst out laughing at the same time.